Harran

by Günther Eichhorn


Harran is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world.According to the Book of Genesis, Abraham stayed in Harran sometime around 1900 BCE. It was famous for the worship of Sin, the Moon God. Worship of the Moon, Sun and the planets was popular from 800 BCE to 800 CE. Harran is famous for its beehive houses, whose design dates back to the 3rd century BCE. They were designed to construct buildings without wood. The Kale (castle) with a mosque inside is interesting. There was originally a Hittite fortress. Today's castle is from 1059. The Ulu Cami was built in the 8th century. It has very non-Turkish square minaret. It is said to be the oldest mosque in Turkey. It is also the site of the first Islamic university. On the hill are the ruins of old Harran, dating back 5000 years. 10 km east of Harran is an underground quarry that delivered the stones for the construction of the buildings in Harran. Another 20 km east is the Seljuk Han el Ba'rur, a caravanserai, built in 1128. About 12 km north-east of there is Şuayb City. The prophet Jethro is supposed to have lived there. About 20 km north of Şuayb City is the village Soğmatar. It was an ancient center for the worship of the Moon God Sin. There are seven hills around the village with shrines for the Moon, the Sun, and the five planets. In the village is a cave-temple with large figures carved out of the walls.

Turkey 0561 Ulu Cami, a mosque with a square minaret. (354k) Turkey 0562 The square minaret. (192k) Turkey 0565 Details on the Ulu Cami. (451k) Turkey 0567 Ruins on the hill above the Ulu Cami, dating back as far as 5000 years ago. (410k) Turkey 0574 Harran with beehive houses. (389k)
Turkey 0573 Beehive houses. (325k) Turkey 0572 Inside one of the beehive houses. (329k) Turkey 0575 In the Kale, the fortress. (582k) Turkey 0582 Inside the Kale was first a church, then a mosque. You can see some of the layers. (333k) Turkey 0578 A round tower in the Kale. (334k)
Turkey 0585 The huge cave of the underground quarry. The narrow cut in the wall in the middle is about 15m (15') high. (328k) Turkey 0587 The Han el Ba'rur caravanserai. (351k) Turkey 0594 Şuayb City (505k) Turkey 0592 Şuayb City (719k) Turkey 0601 One of the hills around Soğmatar with a worship center. (305k)
Turkey 0598 Rock-carved figure in the open-air temple of Moon God Sin (390k) Turkey 0597 Rock-carved figure in the open-air temple of Moon God Sin (376k) Turkey 0604 Assyrian inscriptions on the hill with the Moon God temple. (567k) Turkey 0609 Figures on the walls of the cave-temple in Soğmatar. (505k) Turkey 0610 Figure on the wall of the cave-temple in Soğmatar. (598k)
Turkey 0607 Inscriptions on the wall of the cave-temple in Soğmatar. (551k)



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